


Unfolding

by esme_green



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-17
Updated: 2011-03-17
Packaged: 2017-11-28 20:34:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/678620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esme_green/pseuds/esme_green
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the way they met.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unfolding

**Author's Note:**

> Written for **[st_respect](http://st-respect.livejournal.com/profile)** 's Round Two: Open Log Night - Tell Us How Your Ship Came To Be.
> 
> Janice Rand's family backstory taken from TOS beta canon. Concrit always welcome.

* * *

"A yeoman?" Kirk frowned, and let himself slump back in his chair a little. It wasn't like Pike would mind.

"It's traditional for captains to hand-pick them personally, just as they do the command team." Pike told him, adjusting the workstation in front of him to better suit the height of his wheelchair.

Kirk shrugged. "Do I really need one? I do my own paperwork."

Pike said nothing, just looked at him.

"Oh, come on. There can't be that much administrative crap to deal with."

Pike let him wait for a few telling seconds, then nodded.

"Really?" Kirk said, resigned.

Pike's yeoman, a serious-faced young redhead, entered, balancing two mugs and a stack of padds.

"Will she at least bring me coffee?" Kirk joked.

Yeoman Colt rolled her eyes and smiled, which earned her a Kirk-patented grin in return.

"Unlikely," Pike said, nodding his thanks as she set one mug down for him and took a sip from the second mug herself.

"Say, Colt, what do you think about another tour in deep space?"

"You should be so lucky," Pike said.

"It's Colt or nobody," Kirk said, his grin widening.

Colt shot him another amused look, then said, "Admiral?"

Pike made a shooing motion. "I'll let you know when we're done."

"Seriously, Colt, whoever I get will never compete with you!" He followed her with his gaze, wheedling, as she rounded the Admiral's desk. "You'd leave me out there alone in space, drowning in paperwork, with no coffee?"

"In a heartbeat, Captain," she said.

"I take it you don't have anyone in mind?" Pike asked dryly.

"No."

"Okay. I'll find you someone."

"Make sure whoever it is is at least half as pretty as Yeoman Colt." He flashed her another grin, and she rolled her eyes and left. Pike probably would have rolled his eyes too, if he weren't an admiral.

Jim forgot all about that conversation until the moment he entered his ready room, a few hours after the Enterprise first left spacedock under his command.

A petite blonde was leaning over his desk, tidying the stack of padds he'd left scattered around. She wore a red yeoman's uniform—the skirt version—which showed her long lithe legs to advantage, he couldn't help noticing. Nice curves, modest but full. Smooth, alabaster skin.

Fortunately, as a Starfleet-trained observer, his assessment of her physical attributes took perhaps a third of a second, at most.

She turned at the sound of his entrance, her clear blue eyes widening, and he caught his first full view of her face. Good god, she was beautiful.

He nodded, unsmiling, to acknowledge her. "Yeoman Rand, I'm guessing?"

She straightened, standing at attention. "Yes, Captain Kirk."

Fucking Pike, he thought, and then got down to work.

******

Janice Rand joined Starfleet once her two teenage brothers were safely settled at school. She enlisted--bypassing the Academy because she needed credits, not another four years of waiting for something to happen--made it through basic training, and was assigned a quiet berth as yeoman third class to a couple of semi-retired admirals.

Her actual assignment was to assist Yeoman First Class Gorn--Janice could never pronounce the female reptilian's name correctly--as the Gorn was, for lack of a better word, pregnant. In fact the Gorn's eggs were lodged in her brood pouch, and the Gorn had to go off and sit under a heat lamp several times a day to make sure they stayed warm enough.

The Gorn also liked to show off pictures of the eggs at the slightest provocation, but Janice could deal with that.

She also learned to deal with the two retired admirals. The Vulcan, Silar, seemed completely indifferent to her, though as time went on, he gave her more and more work. The human, Vivian Brown, was abrupt and crotchety as only a great-grandmother could be, and barked orders almost continuously from the moment Janice arrived.

Janice put her head down and worked hard and in general, was satisfied with her decision and her post.

It was a surprise one morning when she entered Admiral Brown's office with an armful of padds to find both admirals sitting in front of the viewscreen. Janice couldn't see who they were speaking to, and only caught the end of the conversation.

"...not at all." Brown was saying sharply. "Common sense. Got a good head on her shoulders, and it won't be easily turned."

"She has demonstrated the capacity to fulfill the proposed assignment, and I would hypothesize she has the potential for far greater responsibilities even than that," said Silar.

"Well, let's start her there, then," came the voice from the viewscreen. "Thank you both. Pike out."

Both admirals looked up at her as the transmission ended. "Excellent," said Admiral Brown. "Rand, you're getting a new assignment."

"Admiral?"

"You're going to be keeping Captain Kirk in line."

Janice felt her jaw drop. "On the Enterprise?"

"That's where he is," Brown said dryly.

"A deep space posting? But--"

"You already handle two admirals," Brown pointed out, not unkindly. "One piddling captain should be easy."

"Of course, but--" she trailed off. A posting onboard the Federation flagship would be exciting. A challenge she could reach for, something to move herself beyond just surviving and coping and concealing a vague boredom with her day-to-day duties and pictures of eggs.

"You are pleased," Admiral Silar observed.

"Yes, Admiral," she admitted. "Thank you both for your recommendation."

"Stay in touch," Admiral Brown said. "I've told young Pike you've got sense and spirit. Don't make me a liar."

"Yes, Admiral," she said again, trying not to blush."I'll do so. I know how much you like letters," she ventured.

Brown grinned. "Go pack. You'll have to report to the Enterprise by 1400 because they're leaving at 1600."

"That's three hours from now!"

"Just enough time to stash your things, message your brothers, and say goodbye to everyone," Brown told her.

Janice looked back and forth between the two Admirals.

Silar nodded. "Dismissed, Yeoman Rand."

Janice only knew about Kirk from what she'd seen on the comms. He was young, but always wore a serious expression, discussing the Battle of Vulcan in clear, sober language. There were rumours that he was a risk-taker and a rule-breaker, but Janice reasoned he must be a good captain if they'd handed him the Enterprise.

She reported to the Enterprise and was pleased to find that her assumptions were true. He was an excellent captain, intelligent and perceptive, and he took the ship's business seriously. He'd often joked with his command team, keeping a light-hearted atmosphere on the bridge, but never during a crisis.

In fact, after a few weeks working with him, she conceded that Admiral Brown had been right. He was much easier to deal with than two crotchety admirals. And she was enjoying her duties and life on the ship more than she'd believed possible. Maybe her parents' adventuring spirit had worn off on her after all.

******

The mission was a straightforward diplomatic conference. The Captain and Commander Spock had made contact without incident a few days earlier and established the schedule of meetings.

Janice beamed down as Captain Kirk's minute-taker for what promised to be several hours of procedural sessions, while Commander Spock toured a geothermal research facility and Doctor McCoy visited a series of hospitals.

She could tell as soon as she saw Kirk's face that it was going to be a dry, dull afternoon. So it was a shock for both of them when the First Minister announced that due to a confluence of environmental factors, now would be the most auspicious time to perform a ceremonial welcome ritual.

"Of course," said Kirk. "I'm afraid, however, that we have not been briefed regarding this ceremony, and we don't wish to give offence."

The First Minister bobbed approvingly. "You are dignified, respectable people," he said. "Offence cannot be taken. Simply observe and give the ritual the attention it deserves."

Kirk pulled out a chair for Rand to sit, and she returned his nod with cool professional detachment.

After that, maintaining her composure got much, much harder.

******

They beamed back to the ship in silence, and in mutual accord headed straight to Kirk's ready room without a word. It was only when the door slid shut behind them that they finally met each others' eyes.

Janice was the first to crack. Her bark of laughter was so loud she clamped her hand over her mouth.

Kirk's lips pursed, like he was trying to hold back, but then his shoulders started to shake too.

Within seconds they were both laughing hysterically.

"Oh my goodness," Janice panted after a moment. "When he dropped his robe like that and was naked, just completely naked underneath..."

"And shook his--" Kirk broke off and did a little shimmy, which set Janice off again.

"And then those things that looked like, like, surgical gloves that he stretched over his elbows--"

"'May These Represent The Hands Of Our Neighbours'..."

"Were they just messing with us, to see if we'd crack?"

"No, no, those, uh, digestive noises were what raised it to a higher level..."

Janice clutched her sides, she was laughing so much, and Kirk tried to lean against the desk for support but missed and sat down abruptly on the ground, which made them both laugh even harder.

After a few moments she gave up standing and joined him on the floor under his desk, catching his eye, which set them off again.

"Okay, okay," she panted after another minute.

"That's right," he said, mock-serious. "Focus, damn it."

She sputtered out another laugh and tried to glare at him. His eyes twinkled and she realized, right then, that she was seeing Jim, the blond, blue-eyed Iowa kid who was the same age as her, not the legendary Captain Kirk.

She felt her lips curl up into a genuine smile as she admired the young man beside her, as the puzzle pieces fit together about the rumours and his reputation at the Academy...now she could see what they were talking about.

And he was handsome, she realized. She'd never consciously noticed that before. Handsome and smart and funny and sitting right here beside her under his desk and...

...looking at her, too.

Oh.

Heat rose in her cheeks, but she couldn't break his gaze. It was like he was waiting for her to catch up, waiting for her to see something he'd already realized.

"Yeah," he said, but it sounded more like "Welcome."

Something twisted low in her belly, responding even as her mind went blank. This was how it was supposed to be. This is what we could be.

Oh.

She could feel the moment coming, surrounding them, and leaned into it almost unconsciously. His eyes had darkened, his lips parted slightly.

But she hesitated. And so did he.

The moment washed over them together, with all its possibilities, and then slowly drained away, and neither of them moved.

A few more helpless seconds passed.

"Yeah," he said more quietly, and it almost seemed like a sigh.

Janice tightened her lips to try and keep everything penned up inside. It was like she couldn't breathe.

The buzz of the comm on his desk jolted them both. "McCoy to Kirk."

With a brief smile she might have imagined was rueful, he reached up and thumbed the comm button. "Kirk here."

"You would not believe the damn fool afternoon I've been having with these people."

Reluctantly, Janice gave a silent laugh, and so did Captain Kirk. They climbed to their feet and Janice found her padd.

"Doctor, at this point I'd believe anything," Kirk said. "Rand?"

"You'll have my notes on today's session by 0800, sir."

"Thanks, Yeoman." He nodded and she left as he resumed his conversation with Doctor McCoy.

She barely made it to her quarters before she put her face in her hands and broke down. This--whatever this was--was mutual, and he'd known about it, and her brain was all caught up with the rest of her now, apparently. And given that neither of them had taken that next step, they were apparently in perfect agreement that it was an incredibly bad idea.

And the mission was five years long.

 

 

 

 

END

 

 

 


End file.
